In 1989, "If Tomorrow Never Comes" became Garth's first No. 1 single (as a writer as well as a performer) and also Kent's first as a songwriter. And it marked the first of several future writing collaborations between the superstar-to-be and Kent, his co-writer on that fateful tune. They would go on to team up for the chart-toppers "Ain't Going Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)" and "Somewhere Other Than The Night" as well as the Top 5 "It's Midnight Cinderella."

Garth has often acknowledged that "Kent probably wrote 99 percent [of the song]." But Kent remembers it as a true 50-50 partnership.

"The idea was Garth's," explains Kent. "He told me that he had run it by about 50 other writers, hoping to find someone to write the song with him, but none of them took any interest in it. They thought the title was too depressing."

But Kent was inspired. He saw it as an affirmation of life, rather than a statement about death. "It reminded me about something my mother had always told me," he explains. "You should tell the people you love how you feel about them while they are still alive. That's what it meant to me."

Garth got the ball rolling, Kent recalls. "He kind of knew how the first verse should go, and what we should talk about in that verse. Then we bounced words and ideas back and forth. We started writing the song for our own voices, and that helped us finish it."

Once they finished, Kent and Garth agreed that they were onto something big. "A lot of times, you're not really sure about a song, but Garth and I were really pumped about this," recalls Kent. "We pitched it to several artists right away, and George Jones actually had it on hold."

But Garth's management and label convinced Garth that he should record it. "It was right for him," agrees Kent. "One of the keys to his success is that he is a strong interpreter of songs, and no one could convey this song's emotion like Garth."

Years later, the song still packed a powerful emotional punch - even on Garth. "Probably in '96 or '97, it hit me," the singer recalls. "I was driving back from Kentucky to Nashville with the window down, and it came on the radio. And I just started bawling like a baby."

- Bob Paxman

"If Tomorrow Never Comes" Written by Kent Blazy and Garth Brooks Performed by Garth Brooks

Sometimes late at night I lie awake and watch her sleeping She's lost in peaceful dreams So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark And the thought crosses my mind If I never wake up in the morning Would she ever doubt the way I feel About her in my heart

If tomorrow never comes Will she know how much I loved her Did I try in every way to show her every day That she's my only one And if my time on earth were through And she must face the world without me Is the love I gave her in the past Gonna be enough to last If tomorrow never comes

'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life Who never knew how much I loved them Now I live with the regret That my true feelings for them never were revealed So I made a promise to myself To say each day how much she means to me And avoid that circumstance Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel

If tomorrow never comes Will she know how much I loved her Did I try in every way to show her every day That she's my only one And if my time on earth were through And she must face the world without me Is the love I gave her in the past Gonna be enough to last If tomorrow never comes

So tell that someone that you love Just what you're thinking of If tomorrow never comes